A Ling (Clearance Team Limited-Edition Outfit)

The sun sets in the west.

Base 51 Survivor Base was hidden by lush jungle. Several young people in white combat uniforms came from different routes and met at the base gate.

One of the young men, a blond-haired Westerner, yawned, his face full of bitterness. "Today's patrol is finally over. I'm starving. When I passed the logistics department just now, I heard them say that the meat dish in the canteen today was pig's trotters... I'm so desperate."

"You should be grateful to have anything to eat. Life has only just started to get a little better, and you, this fussy person, are already complaining. How come you haven't starved to death yet!" The tall woman rolled her eyes.

The two started bickering, something the others were used to. The tall man chuckled and turned to the ponytail-wearing youth behind him, saying, "A Ling, don't mind them. They're just like that, always bickering and teasing each other, but they're actually best friends who'd risk their lives for each other."

"Pah, Old Gao, shut up! Who said we're sworn brothers?" The tall woman immediately denied it as if she'd heard something foul. However, upon seeing the smiling new member beside Old Gao, she toned down her fiery temper and changed her tone, asking with concern, "Um, A Ling, how was your first day of patrol?"

The Lingren had spent the day cleaning up the mess left by the team leader, smiled, his eyes full of gentle composure. It seemed that the physical exertion that was too great for the young people was not noticeable on him.

When a woman is gentle with him, he responds even more gently. The Lingren straightened his slightly wrinkled collar and politely replied, "I'm fine. Before the virus came, I was learning martial arts from my father, so my physical condition isn't as weak as it looks."

"Wow!" the woman exclaimed in surprise. "I didn't know you had martial arts training despite your small frame. No wonder you look so cool with that ponytail!"

The brief conversation made the blond-haired youth a little jealous. He offered a word of encouragement to the new member of the cleanup team, then tugged at the woman's sleeve. "Zhuzi, hurry up and fill out the patrol form, let's go eat!"

The cleanup team is responsible for daily patrols.

Throughout Base 51, the cleanup teams under the command of each squad leader totaled around 100 people. Some were responsible for going out to search for people and clean up the virus every week, while others were responsible for patrolling and security around the base.

The latter's shift schedule is not fixed and often needs to be adjusted according to the actual situation. Managers will prioritize having familiar people patrol together, which helps to quickly regain composure and seek help from trusted people in case of an accident.

Today, the six members on the day shift responsible for patrolling the woods outside the base include Zhuzi and A Jin, who are old teammates, and Old Gao, who is a squad leader. He has been leading the team's new member, A Ling, to familiarize herself with the work of the cleanup squad, and their patrols are naturally scheduled together.

The other two team members weren't very talkative. After gathering at the gate, they started filling out their patrol forms, which recorded any unusual situations that occurred during the day's patrol and how they responded.

Generally speaking, if they can patrol normally until evening and return at the designated time, it basically means that they have not encountered any unsolvable problems. They will hand over the form to the night shift members who are taking over, so that the night shift members can patrol carefully according to the contents of the form.

The night shift members take the day's forms with them when they hand over their shifts in the morning and submit them to the manager's office.

After a few simple and polite words, Old Gao handed the patrol list to the Lingren and asked him to fill it out.

Every time a new member joins the cleanup team, they must be trained meticulously to prevent mistakes when they need to take on responsibilities independently.

The Lingren behaved just like a normal person. He took off the white gloves that came with his combat uniform, went to the wooden table that was always placed at the entrance of the base, and bent down to write.

His high ponytail swept just past his shoulder blades, making him look remarkably like a girl from behind.

Old Gao watched his retreating figure and scratched his head.

A little over a week ago, he would never have believed that such a seemingly weak young man could successfully join the cleanup team. However, now that the man had been assigned to his team, he was very dedicated to training the new recruit.

After spending the week with her, Old Gao discovered that A Ling was just gentle-looking, spoke softly and politely, acted decisively, never complained of hardship or fatigue, and was almost never afraid of any abnormal situations caused by the virus.

The specially made combat uniform on A Ling not only neutralized her gentle temperament but also added a sense of competence and resilience, transforming the adjective "beautiful" into "handsome."

Many of the girls at the base were asking him about A Ling.

Just as Old Gao was feeling both gratified and envious, the Lingren had already finished filling out the patrol form with his back to Old Gao, capped the pen, and licked his lips.

The members on night shift haven't arrived yet; they're probably having dinner. But they don't need to wait here; they can just put their patrol schedules under the metal paperweight on the wooden table.

There are surveillance cameras outside the gate, so basically no one would be bold enough to tamper with the patrol schedule in front of the cameras.

But as he pressed down the paperweight, the Lingren was suddenly struck by Spiritual Sense, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the bottom of the closed metal door of the base.

Something rummaged through the crack in the door and slipped inside.

An ordinary person probably wouldn't notice it, Lingren's eyesight was superhuman; he could clearly see that it was a pair of paper doll legs.

Paper-thin legs.

The moment he looked over, his short legs even twitched.

Ha... A hint of interest flashed in the Lingren's eyes.

Some people are really persistent; do they really enjoy spying on his every move?

He crushed a paper doll to death while he was on patrol last night, but he didn't stop at all. This morning, he drowned another one while he was taking a shower. And now that the patrol is over, he's immediately coming over to monitor him.

Tsk.

He didn't actively seek trouble, but the other party seemed... almost as if they wanted him to cause trouble. Ha, Magician, huh.

The Lingren's eyes gleamed with an incomprehensible light; no one could discern his true attitude.

Old Gao checked the patrol list he had written and, after confirming there were no problems, asked, "A Ling, how about we go to the cafeteria for lunch? You don't have any missions tonight, is there anything you'd like to do? Like, visit a certain area?"

"No, Captain." Lingren turned her head, her eyes immediately becoming clear and bright, her smile flawless, like a gentle spring breeze melting snow. "I want to have dinner with a friend. I've been working with the patrol team lately and have neglected him. He's reminded me several times, and if I don't go see him soon, he'll probably be very angry."